Wednesday, 13 November 2013

Original interview from Decoy issue 3, released December 2011.Having been a major fan of Richard’s work for
years, I knew right from the beginning that I
wanted him to be the centrefold illustrator for this
issue, and I would have been happy no matter
what he contributed or how he featured. For
those not in the know (and you really should be)
Richard has been one of the most prolific and
consistent fashion illustrators to come from Britain
in the last twenty years, and in this year alone he
was commissioned to create original Bodymap
illustrations for the V&A’s permanent collection,
exclusive works for F.I.G (the Fashion Illustration
Gallery) and a 10 page perfume editorial for
Commons&Sense magazine, amongst others.

Keko Hainswheeler harness, Decoy no. 3, 2011

I knew I also
wanted a feature on Keko Hainswheeler’s incredible work in the issue. His accessories involve colossal feather
constructions, hundreds of gold spikes, fetishistic
harnesses, masks and dramatic headwear, and
constantly feature in the editorials of Dazed,
Vman, Another Man, Vogue Hommes Japan, and
adorn the bodies of powerful music icons including Lady Gaga and Skunk Anansie. A big fan of
outrageous fashion and a good hairy rudeboy or
two, Keko naturally loved the idea of Gray interpreting his work.Tell us about yourself prior to the Antonio
Lopez competition that got you discovered
by Anna Piaggi. This is where the information on you always tends to begin on you when researching! What
was your creative work like at the time and
what was that period of your life like for
you in terms of growing up and moving to
London?
The Antonio Lopez and Anna Piaggi moment happened in my first year at Middlesex University,
which was in 1987/1988, so prior to that I was
still living at my parents’ home in a tiny village
in Norfolk. Me and my best friend were always
coming down to London, specifically to go to buy
clothes in Worlds End, (Pirates, Savage, Buffalo,
Witches era especially). It was an incredibly exciting time. In the very early 80’s, around 1981, I
think, I saw a photo of Jordan (Pamela Rooke)
dressed in Worlds End Pirate clothes, in an amazing squiggle top and pirate hat, in a magazine
called New Sounds New Styles. I thought she
was the most beautiful and exotic person I had
ever seen, and the shop looked incredible, unbelievably exhilarating. So I HAD to come to London
and find out what it was all about, and it was
through Vivienne’s clothes that I found my love of
fashion, but also the sense of research, of creating
your own universe, and a sense of narrative. That
made a really fundamental impact on me, but at that time, of course my own illustration work
was still just being done for pleasure. I drew (and
drew and drew) for the pleasure of it. It was
what I liked to do most, but I had no idea you
could become an illustrator, until I got to Great
Yarmouth Art College in the mid 80’s, and I just
enjoyed being at Art College and trying all the different creative challenges, and from there came
to London, to study fashion design at Middlesex
University (then Polytechnic).

'Christopher Shannon SS13', Decoy no. 4, 2013

What was the whole experience like of illustrating from the Couture shows and how
did that come about? It’s such a rarified and
privileged position, even more so now for an
illustrator!
I was introduced to Marion Hume, who was then Fashion Editor of the Independent, by Tony
Glenville. Marion asked me to go to the Couture
shows with her, which was a dream come true.
She’s one of the really important people for me,
like Anna Piaggi, who have always been so kind
and supportive of my work. Marion is a totally
brilliant writer and editor, who really pushed me to get the best out of my work. When I was first asked to draw at the Couture shows it
was a really interesting time. The first couple of
seasons were in the early 90’s so I saw Couture
shows designed by Gianni Versace, the last shows of Hubert de Givenchy, Gianfranco Ferre
designing for Christian Dior, amongst the others:
YSL, Chanel, Lacroix, Valentino, and then was
lucky enough to go to John Galliano’s first and
second shows for Givenchy and was working with
Alexander McQueen for his first Givenchy show.
All the big supermodels were still working the
catwalk, but there was this big change happening of these Couture Houses being passed onto
new English designers. At that time there was no
internet access, and no photography, so you had
to quickly sketch every outfit that came down the
catwalk in case the editor decided she wanted
you to draw it, because there was no other way of
getting reference.
The first ever Couture show I went to was Versace, where, if I remember correctly, for this show,
it seemed like every item, skirt, coat, top, bag
shoes, gloves was in a different and very specific
print and texture. Several prints per outfit, with, I
think, two models sent down the catwalk at once.
The roughs would be drawn in the hotel room in Paris that evening, after the shows, and the
artwork completed by the time I returned to
London. All on a tiny little hotel table and table
light, stretching the paper in the bathroom, drying
it with the hairdryer, and painting into the early
hours of the morning. Because of Marion, I was
able to go to the designers studios sometimes
either before or after the shows and see fittings
and sketch from them or see the clothes close up afterwards. There was an afternoon spent
watching Christian Lacroix fit some of his models
which was literally breathtaking. The man is such
a genius, and it was a real privilege. One of those
very special memories, among many, because you
really realised the talents not only of the designers, but also of the people who made the clothes,
the embroiderers etc. The level of craftsmanship
at times was staggering. Very inspiring to see it so close.

Keko Hainswheeler Coin Harness, Decoy no.4, 2013

What kind of models and styles do you find
yourself gravitating towards? Is there anyone
out there who acts as a kind of muse for you
at the moment, be it designer or model? Or
just anyone who you find fascinating right
now?
My models have usually been my friends or
people I’ve been introduced to, or spotted, who’ve
become friends. They’re people I feel really
inspired by, not just because of the way they look,
but because they’re people I always perceive as
being absolutely sure of who they are, in a really
uncompromising way. They’ve always been people
I’ve had a gut response to, that I HAVE to draw
them, or initially just clicked with them as friends
because I found them so interesting. Working with
them is always really collaborative and creative,
but there’s no distinct typical ‘look’, I’m inspired
by, just the person.

Stephen Jones Hat, A Magazine Curated by Stephen Jones, 2013

You’ve probably been asked this question far too much, but it’s always mentioned that you produced work for the late Lee McQueen. Obviously you’ve worked with numerous incredible talents and people, but his vision and legacy are just insurmountable and obviously it’s still a subject of great pain and loss for everyone who admired him. What were the kind of briefs that you worked on and what was your working relationship with him and the brand? The illustration that you did of Isabella Blow for the tribute show in particular still floors me.Working with Lee was always fantastic. His work was incredible to draw, because it was always so creative and rich in narrative. Really visionary, with total respect for the craft mixed with com- plete fearlessness. He was someone I knew from the very early days. I think he had done about three or four collections, at that point, back in the early 90’s and we had lots of mutual friends, and were often in the same pubs in Soho. I had drawn some of his work for Vogue Italia already, before working with him. For me, he was someone always with such a clear vision, and very decisive over whether something was working for him or not. He asked me to work on some amazing projects for him: to illustrate his designs, enlarged to a wall sized painting for the Fashion at Belsay exhibition, or an illustration for the Black Exhibition, where he held a one off charity catwalk show of his showpieces recreated in black, and held a silent auction of work by designers, photographers, architects, celebrities, to raise money for charity. I created a marketing illustration for the launch of the MyQueen perfume and I illustrated for him while he was at Givenchy, and other in-house smaller projects at McQueen. To be asked to do the illustration for the Isabella Blow tribute show, ‘La Dame Bleue’, was such an incredible honour, I can’t really put into words how special it was to be asked. It was an enormous privilege.

Alexander Mcqueen AW09, Personal Collection

I’ve noticed you’re regularly producing new works for F.I.G, which seems to be a great stage for prolific illustrators and generally for the promotion of fashion illustration. What’s your involvement and experience been like so far?F.I.G. is the creation of William Ling, who has such an expertise and enthusiasm for Fashion Illustration. He has my work for sale at the Gallery and I’ve included some work in group shows. It’s great working with someone who has such a specialist knowledge and passion for the subject, who’s created a specific gallery celebrating fashion illustration.Have you ever considered or been ap- proached about putting a compendium together of your work so far in the form of a book or solo exhibition?I’ve had solo exhibitions in Milan, and have had offers of books of my work. I’m less interested in looking backwards, I’d be more interested in doing a book of my Men, a project of new illustrations, for example, rather than just looking retrospectively. I’d always rather move forward.